After All This Time: Krista's Birthday
by LuvPurple99
Summary: It's Krista's first birthday with her real family. What will the day bring for her? Set between the AATT Reboot and the Revenge Reboot.


**A/N: **The day I'm posting this (December 11) is my character Krista's birthday. In fact, today would actually be her 11th birthday, if she had been born in 2008 as I imagined her to be. So to celebrate, here is the story of Krista's first real birthday with her true family. This takes place in the rebooted _After All This Time_ timeline, between the end of _AATT_ and the beginning of _Revenge_. Hope you enjoy it. New chapters of _Revenge _will be coming soon – I just haven't had a whole lot of time to write lately.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kim Possible_. It belongs to Disney and its creators. If it was in the show, I don't own it. I am not doing this for compensation, simply for enjoyment and practice.

**Claimer: **Krista Ruthie Stoppable is my OC. If you want to use her, please ask.

**After All This Time: Krista's Birthday**

**December 11, 8am**

**Stoppable Home, Middleton, Colorado**

"Krista… Krista, honey, wake up." Kim sat on the edge of her daughter's bed as she gently shook her shoulder.

Groaning, Krista rubbed her bleary eyes as she turned to face her mother, catching a glimpse of her father standing behind her, a big, goofy grin plastered on his face.

Kim smiled. "Morning, sweetie. Do you know what day it is?"

Krista made her face go blank. She knew what day it was. But past mistakes had taught her not to bring it up. It was better to keep silent – the memories of being locked out in the cold, nearly freezing to death were all too fresh.

Unable to contain his excitement any longer, Ron blurted out, "It's your birthday, kiddo!"

Kim glanced back at her husband, giggling at his childish excitement, before turning back to Krista with a smile of her own. "Happy birthday, Krista!"

Krista stared, dumbfounded. Never in her life had her birthday been a joyous occasion. She ducked her head and responded with a tentative "Thank you."

More than anything Kim and Ron wanted to gather their daughter in a hug and never let her go. But Krista was still adjusting to living with them, and she still was still anxious about close contact, so simple smiles would have to do.

"Get excited! You're eleven!" Ron exclaimed. "So tell us: what do you want to do? What's your favorite birthday memory?"

Krista ducked her head even lower. "I've never had one before."

The smiles quickly faded from Kim and Ron's faces. "W-what?"

Hunching her shoulders (a habit she had subconsciously developed to attempt to make herself invisible in uncomfortable situations), Krista whispered, "The Moores never let me."

Silenced reigned, neither adult knowing quite what to say. Unable to bear the quiet any longer, Krista said, "I should get ready for school."

Kim and Ron left their daughter to dress, heading downstairs in a fog. When they reached the kitchen, Kim turned to her husband, her eyebrows knit together in concern and sadness. "They never let her celebrate her birthday?"

Ron shook his head, not able to grasp the knowledge. "I don't—How can—" He couldn't finish his expression. He knew the Moores were cruel, but he never imagined his daughter's birthday would go unnoticed and uncelebrated for so long. For some reason, that never occurred to them, even amidst all the other abuses they were aware had been inflicted upon their daughter. Birthdays just seemed like a given. To take that away from a child…

A fierce determination settled on Kim's face. "We have to make this day special for her." The husband and wife shared a look.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kim asked.

"I think so," Ron replied.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

A few minutes later, Krista descended the stairs, clutching her backpack. When she entered the kitchen, her father was making breakfast – chocolate chip pancakes. Her favorite. She sat down wordlessly at the kitchen table, waiting patiently for her breakfast. Kim sat across from her as Ron served the food.

"Krista, you won't be going to school today," she stated.

Krista looked up, confusion etching her features. "Why?" A thought struck her, prickly nerves climbing up her spine. "Am I in trouble?"

Kim reached a comforting hand across the table. "No, honey, of course not."

Ron joined his family. "We were just talking. This is your first birthday with us. Well, your first birthday _ever_, apparently. We want to spend every minute of it with you and make it one you'll never forget." He gestured to the food-laden table. "Starting with your favorite breakfast!"

Krista was still shocked. Never in her life had anyone paid so much attention to her. Tears welled in her eyes, and she couldn't bring herself to look at her parents, she was so overwhelmed with feelings of love.

Kim and Ron exchanged a concerned glance. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Krista hurriedly wiped her eyes. "Nothing… it's just…" She peeked up through her eyelashes. "Thank you."

Her parents smiled at her. "You don't have to thank us, sweetie. It's your day. You deserve to have a special birthday."

Through her tears, Krista gave them one of her very rare smiles.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

After breakfast, Kim and Ron took Krista to her favorite store, letting her pick out a few pieces of clothing and a few toys. From there was lunch at Bueno Nacho, which had quickly become her favorite place to eat (besides her father's restaurant). After lunch, Kim and Ron took her to see the playground where they had met and where they had gotten engaged. So much activity had exhausted her, so they returned home so Krista could take a nap.

A few hours later, Krista came downstairs to find her parents in the living room, a small, wrapped box on the coffee table. Kim patted the couch, and Krista sat between her parents. Ron placed the box on Krista's lap.

"We wanted to end the day with something extra special," he said.

Krista hesitantly began unwrapping the gift to find a cardboard box. Inside the box was a small scrapbook with her name on the front. She stared at it, unsure what to make of it.

"What's this?" she asked quietly.

"Open it," Kim encouraged. Krista gently opened the cover. On the first page was a hospital bracelet and a picture of her parents with her as a newborn. Though her mother looked exhausted, joy radiated from the smile she gave the camera. Her father looked so proud of his girls.

The next page contained only a letter. It was short, and there were stains on the paper where tears had fallen.

_To Our Baby Girl,_

_It's been a year since we lost you. Every day has been excruciating without you. We miss you so much we can hardly breathe. If only we had had more time. We love you so much, forever and always, sweet girl. _

_Love, Your Mommy and Daddy_

"Wha-?" Krista breathed, shocked at the contents of the letter. She continued flipping the pages, each one containing a similar letter expressing her parents' pain and longing since losing her. Tears of her own came to her eyes, but not tears of sadness. They were tears of amazement and wonder at the sentiment that ended every single letter.

_We love you, forever and always, no matter what._

A sob escaped her. She had never felt so loved and treasured in her life. It was overwhelming, feeling so wanted, so precious. She looked up at her parents, whose faces were stained with tears of their own.

"You- you really wrote these every year? For me?"

"Every single year. There wasn't a day that went by that we didn't think about you or miss you," Kim replied.

"We still can't believe we got you back. You have no idea how happy we are that you're here," Ron added.

Krista looked back down at the scrapbook, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks as she noticed the letter on the final page of the scrapbook, marked with that day's date.

_To Our Sweet Girl,_

_Today is your eleventh birthday and your first birthday back with us. We are so incredibly happy to finally have you home. You have brought us so much joy in these few months. We know your past still haunts you, but we want you to know that we are here for you every step of the way, every moment, good or bad. We love you more than you could ever imagine. We always have, and we always will. Welcome home, baby girl, and happy birthday._

_Love, Mom and Dad_

"I love you, too," she whispered.

A feeling they couldn't quite name gripped Kim and Ron – perhaps it was shock, or joy, or an overwhelming sense of pride and love.

This was the first time Krista had said that to them.

Kim couldn't help it. She tentatively wrapped her arms around her little girl, Ron following. For once, Krista didn't pull away. She was so overwhelmed with the feeling of unconditional love radiating from her parents that she leaned in to the embrace.

It may have been Krista's birthday, but she had given Kim and Ron the best gift they could ever have received: herself.

**A/N: **Leave a review if you like, and look for new chapters of _Revenge _coming soon. Thanks for reading.


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